Xbox Wireless Controller: Out-of-court settlement aimed at controller drift

A large class action lawsuit against Microsoft regarding controller drift is being settled out of court. Sony and Nintendo had previously been able to avert complaints about controller drifts through arbitration.

An ongoing class action lawsuit against Microsoft regarding the so-called “controller drift” of the Xbox wireless controller is being settled out of court. Whether on the Series X | S or the PC – many players had reported unwanted or incorrect movements of the dual sticks.

The US law firm CSK & D then took the class action lawsuit to the US court in April last year. The law firm appeals loudly Gamesindustry.biz to countless cases in which the sticks drifted during everyday use. The fact that there is now an arbitration outside of a court is a nuisance for the law firm. Benjamin Johns, partner attorney at CSK & D, gave the colleagues at The Loadout to bear in mind that the law firm received substantial amounts of defective controllers and that this incident would now hardly ever land in a public court. For the damage caused to the user, the aim is to obtain at least fair compensation.

According to further tests, which were commissioned by the law firm, the problem was a defect in the so-called potentiometer – a known problem that already plagues the DualSense controllers of the PS5 and the Joy-Cons of the Switch. In both cases, CSK & D also brought class actions to the court, both of which were not brought before the courts in March 2020, but were also settled out of court.

Microsoft insists, however, that the products are put through their paces, so it was said in an interview with colleagues from The Loadout. In the end, Microsoft, like Sony and Nintendo, should be able to buy its way out of this misery.